Digimonkey Tips: How does “Buy Now” differ from “Add to Cart”

Shopping for ebooks is a wonderful experience, one that Digimonkey likes to indulge in while ensconced in a comfortable chair with a cup of tea, a chocolate treat for her sweet tooth and her laptop.  However, sometimes there’s a book she wants to buy and she wants to buy it NOW!  She doesn’t want to wait for her comfy chair or her chocolate….uhhh…well maybe the chocolate…but she wants her purchase to be speedy and efficient. That’s why Digi’s a fan of the “Buy Now” express checkout!  What a wonderful concept. Digi can go from login to reading in less than a minute.

How does Buy Now work?

To use the Buy Now checkout, one of two payment methods must be set up in your account first.

Available eBook Bucks: If you have a balance in your Available eBook Bucks account that will cover the entire cost of the book you are purchasing, then you can use the Buy Now button to draw from your available Bucks.

Create a Credit Card Profile: Log in to your Account Customer Profile page and click on the “Manage my Buy Now purchase account information” link at the top of the page.  Fill in the form and then click “Create Profile”.  Check out Digimonkey’s post for detailed instructions on creating a Buy Now credit card profile.

Because the Buy Now button bypasses the Cart checkout, it’s incredibly fast.  As soon as Digi clicks on the Buy Now button her new book is sent to her Library, with two exceptions.

• If you happen to be one of those lucky users who have both eBook Bucks AND a credit card on file, you will need to click on the payment button for your preferred option of payment.
• If you have additional books already in your Cart when you click on the Buy Now button, you will be redirected to the Cart to confirm you want to purchase all the books in the Cart as well as the one you selected for “Buy Now”.

 

So, you ask, why would you ever want to use the Add to Cart button when the Buy Now button is so efficient?  Digimonkey can give you three very good reasons.

You are using a discount code or Buy-10-Get-1-Free code:  The text box for entering these codes is in the Cart, so if you use the Buy Now button, you’ll never see the Discount box and won’t receive the discount on your purchase.  When using a code, you always want to use the Add to Cart button.

You want to be certain you’re not buying a book that is already in your Library:Digimonkey buys a lot of books and she can’t always remember which ones she has purchased, especially if she hasn’t read them yet.  When she places a book in her Cart that is already in her Library, an orange banner appears below the book’s title that tells her she already has the book in her Library.  This gives her the opportunity to delete the book before she pays for it a second time!  If she only uses the Buy Now button, she’ll bypass the page that shows the alert.

You’re purchasing multiple books:  While Buy Now is handy for buying a single book, if you’re purchasing several books, it will actually add clicks if you have to finish out each transaction individually.  Add to Cart is the best choice for multiple books.

With Digimonkey’s words of wisdom in mind, you’re ready to go Buy Now!

Filed Under: DigiMonkey eBook Tips

Tagged: digimonkey, ebooks tips